The city’s recently upgraded Transit Master Plan identified several corridors as ripe for investment in high-capacity transit, such as a rapid streetcar line. McGinn says it’s critical to start planning now so the city can be eligible for federal grant money down the road to get a new streetcar line built.

“By starting the planning process today, we will have a head start in competing for federal and state dollars tomorrow. Cities across America, from Salt Lake City to Charlotte, are moving quickly to plan and build expansions of their own rail systems. If we wait, Seattle could be left behind, once again watching as federal dollars go somewhere else,” McGinn said Thursday in his blog.

If Seattle voters approve a $60 car tab fee in November, a slice of money would go to planning for a downtown connector between the South Lake Union streetcar and future First Hill streetcar line. Some money also would go toward an extension of the First Hill Streetcar line north from its planned terminus on Capitol Hill to Aloha Street.

Transit improvements were among the recommendations from a Citizens Transportation Advisory Committee.

“While the Council and I agree that the downtown connector is an important step toward creating a wider streetcar network, we also have a responsibility to start connecting our neighborhoods. As with other policy areas, personal preferences need to take a back seat to data-driven analysis,” McGinn said.

Had the City Council decided to ask voters for an $80 increase in car tabs instead, some of the extra revenue would have gone to early planning on any of five new corridors, including a future rail line from Ballard to downtown that could carry up to 26,000 riders. On that line, 12,500 would be new transit riders, according to the mayor’s office.

Building the Ballard line is estimated to cost about $327 million.

“We have to find a way to meet this demand. If we don’t, we won’t be able to compete with other cities across the country and around the world that are building transit,” McGinn said.